Color Club Otherworldly

As our weather gets warmer, I'm in the mood for colors that are brighter but not quite neon. Today I pulled out an oldie but goodie collection - the Color Club Starry Temptress from Summer 2011. This was a set of neon glitters, but some of the colors were more intensely neon than the others. I pulled out Otherworldly, a bright blue with silver, slightly holographic glitter.

This dried matte so this definitely has neon qualities, but this is not an eye-searingly intense neon. I used two thin coats for this mani, which was opaque for the casual eye but I can see some translucency in this close up shot.

This polish is packed with glitter that stays on top of the blue base, but this glitter doesn't sparkle.  A shiny top coat takes Otherworldly from matte to shiny, but not sparkly. The matte glitter gives this polish a speckled look on the nail - this shade reminded me of the mosaic floor on the bottom of a pool. This is also a very smooth glitter.  Being ultra smooth with the matte glitter made this mani look like it was done with nail polish strips.

Otherworldly was nice and long-wearing, which made the removal extra sad because it was such a hassle!! All the glitter that you can see in the bottle is there on the nail when you're trying to take this polish off.  Once the top layer of blue came off, there was nothing but tons and tons of silver holographic glitter stuck on underneath.  It took patience and acetone to get all the glitter off - lots of patience and acetone.

I still love Otherworldly because it's so cool looking on the nail, but I'll probably be smarter next time I'm wearing a polish from the Starry Temptress collection and use a glue base coat to make the removal easier.

OPI Strawberry Margarita + I Lily Love You

Ever get a manicure idea in your head and then you just can't decide which polishes to use?  I wanted to wear a layered glitter look using two OPI colors, and I ended up pulling out 4 base colors and 4 glitters. I couldn't figure out which combination I wanted to use and I had absolutely no preference, so my husband suggested I let our baby son pick my polishes.

I used to set my polishes in front of our toy poodle and wear whichever bottle she pawed first.  This is a cute technique, but not very effective because our little Suzie gets easily distracted and would walk away before she picked my polish. Our 6-1/2 month old son, on the other hand, is in a very grabby phase (go fine motor skill development!!) so we set up my polishes in two groups and he picked out today's mani in under 10 seconds.

Here's two coats of Strawberry Margarita and one coat of I Lily Love You.

Strawberry Margarita is a bright warm pink creme from the OPI Mexico Spring 2006 collection. As I mentioned in my I'm Indi-a Mood For Love post, this is one of my most favorite pinks. The Mexico collection was the first OPI collection that I really got into - I proudly displayed the adorable minis box, I couldn't buy the whole collection so I encouraged all my friends to buy at least one bottle so they would have nearby homes. This shade is now a part of the core collection so you can still get it wherever OPI's sold with the 3-free formula.

My bottle's from the original collection so I have a chemical-laden black label, but I'm not complaining. This goes on easily in 2 coats with only slightly visible nail line in the brightest of sunlight. 

I Lily Love You is from the Nice Stems! Summer 2011 collection is a big flake glitter in a sheer pink base. There's also smaller circle and square glitters in the mix. The pink base tints Strawberry Margarita, making the shade a bit cooler. I left it unlayered on my thumb, so you could see the slight difference it made.

I loved this mani - maybe because it was so pink and festive, maybe because it was picked out by the cutest baby boy ever. Either way, I didn't want to take this off but I have to so I can get ready for our 5 day NY/NJ trip. I've already had this on for the last three days, and I don't want it to peel or chip off before we get back. I won't be packing polish this time so it's time for a new look for our vacation!

Half Moon Mani with Cult Nails

Working my way through my untrieds, I decided to wear Mind Control from Cult Nails Super Powers collection.  I bought the entire collection to take advantage of the pre-sale pricing and I've given much love to Time Traveler and Clairvoyant, but I'd put off wearing Mind Control until it really felt like a wintry day to wear this vampy shade.

Cult describes Mind Control as "a deep, slate greyed-purple with brain washing bursts of pink/purple glitter that shifts slightly to provide a golden glimmer."  I think the jelly base is more of a dark gray than a greyed-purple, and it's definitely packed with pink/purple glitter. The gold shift is slightly visible around the edges of my nails - especially on my pointer and pinky.  I think the real star of Mind Control is the glitter. There's tons of it so, even though this is a dark color, it keeps sparkling even in low lighting.  Even with a jelly base, Mind Control was good to go in two coats.

I was happy with this mani, but then I received my New Year's Sale package.  I'd been paying attention to my Twitter and noticed Cult was having a flash sale, so I finally got Coveted, Flushed, and Untamed because I wanted to get my hands on the discounted limited edition shades, especially before their 2013 price increase.  I couldn't wait to try Flushed, so I decided to layer!

Since I just found my reinforcement labels, it seemed like a good time to practice a half moon mani. Using my rediscovered stickers, I added two coats of Flushed and got this purple shimmery goodness!

Sunlight - what is that shimmer?! Awesomeness!!

Shade

I loved the way this came out!!!  I love the look of half moon manicures, but I also feel very self-conscious when I'm wearing them.  This mani was so smooth and shiny, it had shimmer and glitter, the moons came out decently crisp, but the overall look was still subtle.  I'm looking forward to wearing Flushed on its own, but I'm going to wear it like this for a few more days first!

World Diabetes Day - Cult Nails Let Me Fly

Today I'm wearing blue nails in honor of World Diabetes Day.  An American Indian is 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes compared to a non-Hispanic white and 95% of American Indians with diabetes have Type 2.  This is the highest rate of diabetes among all U.S. racial and ethnic groups.

As a member of the Pascua Yaqui tribe, I've seen many of my relatives afflicted with Type 2 diabetes in their later years.  My closest family members have all had brushes with pre-diabetes diagnoses.  With greater knowledge and improved education about diabetes, prevention through healthy lifestyle changes is now a priority and daily goal for my family.

This day isn't just about my family or this country - it's about how diabetes affects us all on a global scale.  Not all forms of diabetes are preventable, but lifestyle changes may help prevent cases of Type 2 diabetes.  I recommend checking out the International Diabetes Federation site and the American Diabetes Association sites for more information. 

Here's Let Me Fly is from the Cult Nails Spring/Summer 2011 Day At The Races collection.

This dusty teal is filled with silver fleck shimmer.  At some angles, it looks like there's pink and blue shimmer, too.  This polish is opaque and goes on smoothly in two thin coats.  There's something very calming about this muted blue.  Fortunately, Let Me Fly isn't one of the limited edition Cult Nails shades so everyone still has an opportunity to get their own bottle.

Untried Greens - Zoya Gemma & Yara

I pulled out some of my untried Zoya greens for the week leading up to St. Patrick's Day.  These are from collections last year, but they were both so pretty that I had to share.

First, we have Gemma from their Spring 2011 Intimate collection
- a soft sage green shimmer.

 

I wanted this shade for its flash of blue-violet shimmer, but I didn't get around to buying it until I found it in an Ulta clearance bin.  The formula was pretty thin and watery, but I think that might have been my fault.  The poor thing had been sitting around for awhile - it probably needed a lot more rolling to get it mixed back up to normal consistency.  I needed three coats to get it opaque, but it might work with two if I mix it better next time.

For those of you in parts of the country where it's still feels more like the end of winter than the beginning of spring...

here's Yara, an olive green with gold flecks,
from the Mirrors half of the Fall 2011 Smoke and Mirrors collection.

Yara's formula was thicker (maybe because it's also newer and needed less shaking?) and went on easily in two coats.  I really enjoyed the soft, spring-like effect of Gemma, but I LOVED Yara.  This is such a beautiful color.  Why didn't I wear this all fall?? It's smoky, it's subtly sparkly, it's so pretty!

Wet N Wild Ice Baby Collection

I have a fabulous friend who gifted me with the entire wet n wild coloricon Holiday Glitter 2011 Ice Baby Collection.  The entire set!!

Let's get started with a look at these cute little bottles...

Rockin' Rubies - Believe Me, It's Real - 24 Carats - Give Me A Price Quote

It's All In The Cut - Back Alley Deals - Cost Is No Issue - Diamond In The Rough

Here's one coat of these glitters over one coat of black creme polish.  All of these polishes are clear-based and their opacity varies, but I wouldn't describe any of them as sheer.  They are gritty, top coat-sucking glitters so I think layering makes wear and removal easier.  If you want to wear them solo, you'll only need two or three coats to get full coverage.

Rockin' Rubies - red microglitter with pink hex holo glitter
Believe Me, It's Real - blue microglitter with purple hex glitter
24 Carats - yellow-gold microglitter and bar glitter
Give Me A Price Quote - warm gold microglitter with gold and orange bar glitter with pink flash. I can't tell where that pink is coming from, but it's there.

It's All In The Cut - lavender microglitter with pink hex glitter

Back Alley Deals - purple microglitter with red hex glitter

Cost Is No Issue - light greenish blue microglitter with blue hex glitter

Diamond In The Rough - charcoal microglitter with silver holo hex glitter

As a glitter fan, I love every single one of these polishes. The colors are bright, the color and texture combinations are creative, and the overall feel is so playful.  They cover the nail easily, dry quickly, and wear for days without chipping.

If I had to pick my Top 3 Favorites from the Ice Baby collection, I'd go with... 

Back Alley Deals - It's like an awesome glitter version of China Glaze Flying Dragon.

Believe Me, It's Real - Blue and purple and it's all glitter? oh yeah! 

It's All In The Cut - It's so girly and Lisa Frank-like.

I'm wearing these all as NOTDs, so I'll have future posts showing them off on their own.  If you live by a Walgreens and find this collection, buy these polishes! Pick up your favorite colors and I'm positive you'll be wearing them non-stop through the winter/holiday season.

OWWWP - wet n wild How I Met Your Magenta

This polish has been shown off since it was released earlier this year, especially for Pink Wednesdays, but I just recently picked it up during the month-long Walgreens sale on all their $1.99 items.  I was reluctant to try more Fast Dry Color polishes after the bubble fest from Party of Five Glitters, but why not give the line a second chance for $.99 a bottle?

Wet n Wild How I Met Your Magenta is a warm bubble gum pink with fine gold shimmer.  This polish dries to a semi-matte finish.  I prefer to wear this shade with a shiny top coat because it makes brush strokes, which are visible in its semi-matte finish, disappear.  My index finger doesn't have any top coat so you can the difference between its matte vs. glossy.

The brush is full and straight so it was easy to work with but definitely had to be manipulated and worked around where the nail bed has curves, like the cuticle edge.  The brush did make getting a medium-thick coat of polish on the nail in only a few strokes easy.

Unlike Party of Five Glitters, How I Met Your Magenta really did dry at lightning fast speed.  Maybe because this polish is kind of a matte? hmm.... 

Unfortunately, I don’t think this polish has the opacity to ever fully cover the nail line.  The VNL isn’t that visible in pictures or some lighting, but it’s there about 90% of the time staring at you from under the bright pink.  However, the quick dry time makes it easy to put on three coats of color and head out the door in 15 minutes with a fully set mani.

The VNL is almost a deal breaker for me, but this is a very pretty color that’s fast and easy to use.  I think I’m going to keep How I Met Your Magenta around for one day manicures when I need something quick and peppy but will come off before that VNL bugs me.

OPI Stranger Tides

We were out shopping with friends in Tucson when I spotted a nail supply place named "Andy's." That's kinda my name and it's a nail supply place, so I dragged my friends. What did I find? Affordable OPI!! I recently sold some polish in my blog sale, so I took my new funds and picked up some new shades.

They had all the shades from the OPI Pirates of the Carribean On Stranger Tides Spring 2011 collection. Since I'm on a limited polish budget and could only get one bottle from that collection, I went with the shade that would be the most unique in my beloved set of OPI polishes.

Stranger Tides is a light green creme with touches of gray to give it a murky feeling. I felt the formula was a bit watery so this is three thin coats to get full opacity. It set quickly, dried shiny, and wore like iron, so it was well worth all three coats.

On my hand, this green definitely leans yellow - most likely due to my olive skin tone.  I like the quiet oddness of this shade, but the heat has hit AZ hard in the last week. This pastel shade doesn't fit my "summer's here" mood so I'll be putting this away while we're in our triple digit days.

OPI San Tan-tonio

As I mentioned last month, I haven't been able to get any of the OPI Spring 2011 Texas polishes because OPI isn't in the "unemployed" budget. However, I now have three shades from the collection due to the generosity and awesomeness of my wonderful friends. Surprisingly, the first one I tried wasn't a "sorbet."

According to OPI, San Tan-tonio is "a “honey” of a ten-gallon tan!" This is definitely a light tan creme, but the exact shade will vary depending on your skin tone. This shade looks like a grayed-out caramel on me. The first coat showed a rosy brown base that continued to deepen in color with each subsequent coat. Here it is at three coats - very shiny and level before I even got the top coat on.

Everyone's monitor shows colors differently, but I had to show a more accurate shot of the bottle itself. For some reason, it kept coming out really light in all the color accurate nail shots. It's not the color of coffee with too much cream - it's more tan than that.

The shade looks different once it's on the hand, but here's how San Tan-Tonio actually looks by itself in the bottle.

I really liked San Tan-tonio - something about the shade made me think of the 70s. If I did "How I Wore It" posts like Varnish Vixen, I'd wear this color with a flowy peasant blouse and flares outfit.

OWWWP - Color Club Space Case

Time for my first Pink Wednesdays Pink!! If you haven't heard of Pink Wednesdays yet, check out the On Wednesdays We Wear Pink site for all the details on this latest polish community movement.

Now that I'm surrounded by Ross stores, my friends are getting used to the "let me run in real quick" request whenever we pass one. I've been finding great stuff for my hair, but no polish luck. Persistence paid off and I finally found two Color Club sets that I really wanted - Catwalk Queen and Starry Temptress!

Space Case is a neon pink glitter from the Color Club Summer 2011 Starry Temptress collection. The base is a medium pink with a silvery green shimmer. This polish is filled with small silver holographic glitter.

The base is heavy and covers most of the holographic sparkle, but the glitter that reaches the topmost layer does show some of its rainbow in the sunlight. The layers of glitter throughout the pink shimmer help give the polish a starry sky-like effect. It dries matte, so it needs top coat for a shiny finish.

The bright colors of the Starry Temptress collection are reminiscent of the neon shimmers in the Color Club Summer 2009 Electro Candy collection. Starry Temptress has glitter, but are the base color dupes? Nope!

Here are bottle comparisons of the two pinks from Starry Temptress 

with the pink from Electro Candy:

Space Case, Electro Candy, Ultra-Astral

Space Case is definitely lighter and cooler than Electro Candy. Ulta-Astral is a much darker fuchsia-like pink. Whew! It's always good when new polishes don't look like our old polishes ;D

Revlon Copper Penny

It's not Mother's Day yet, but if my mom can't wait to give me my Easter polishes, I'm not waiting until May to declare how cool she is.

I was a drugstore polish girl until college and Revlon was my favorite with their limited edition collections and easy-to-use brushes (yeah, I'm looking at you, Maybelline - fix your brushes!!).  I've always been more of a saver than a spender, though, so I wouldn't buy them for myself unless there was a sale or a coupon because $4 a bottle was a lot back then. Mom to the rescue! For years, she's been slipping those Revlons in my Easter basket and Christmas stocking. 

Old habits die hard and my mom has hit up the Revlon racks for me again to get me some of their newer shades. Since I'm still loving all the sunshine (I never hate sunshine but I don't like it as much when it's over 110 in the summer - but hey, it's a dry heat... till monsoon...), and sparkly polishes look fabulous in the sunshine, I wore one of our mutual favorites first - Copper Penny!

Revlon Copper Penny is from the Heavenly Metal collection. It's a "New Shade," but I don't think it's Limited Edition.  Copper Penny is a copper foil with a deep copper metallic base lightened and brightened with lots of fine silver and light gold sparkles. I know it says "Metallic" on the bottle, but I think a true metallic polish has a smoother, reflective, more metal-like finish (i.e. the China Glaze Chromes). Copper Penny has that sparkly, glittery-yet-smooth finish of a foil.  

Sunlight - Smooth & Sparkly

Shade - The Silver Glitter is More Visible

If you look at the copper down the middle of the nail,
it matches almost perfectly to the shade of a new penny.

Copper Penny went on almost completely opaque in one coat, but two coats were needed for a smooth finish. Metallic colors love to hug every ridge on the nail in the first coat. 

The closest color I have to this polish is OPI Legs Celebrate, but Copper Penny is lighter and doesn't have as much orange. This polish looks understated indoors because it's a bit similar to my skin tone and then it's "Wham! Sparkly!!" as soon the sunlight hits it. 

Thanks for the awesome polish, Mom!!

Revlon Black with Envy - Last Day to Enter!

Guess what my Ulta just got in? A full Revlon Backstage Revealed - Runway 2011 display... which means that I was able to get my hands on the limited edition Black with Envy!

For anyone who can't find Wet N Wild Morbid from their Craze line, Black with Envy is also supposed to be another close cousin (aka probable dupe) to Chanel's Black Pearl. This small display is only supposed to be up from March through the end of May, so you'll have to look quickly to find this shade. 

Is it worth the search? It was for me because I wanted a polish like Black Pearl without having to pay $25 for it. Black with Envy went on in two coats - it has the graphite base with blue-green shimmer - it's worn nicely with only minor tipwear after housework and dish washing.

Sun - Graphite with Green Shimmer

Shade - Green Shimmer gives a pearl-like finish

But if you don't feel like dealing with the frustration of a potentially fruitless polish hunt, just enter my giveaway because Black with Envy is the tenth polish I'll be giving away! I'll also be giving away the new addition to the Lippmann Happy Birthday dupe family - Ulta Piñata-Yada-Yada!

Black with Envy, Piñata-Yada-Yada

You have until midnight PST tonight to enter. Don't miss out on your chance to get all of 10 of these fantastic polishes! The winner will be announced tomorrow afternoon so hasta mañana!

Spring 2011 Trends - Family & Friends Edition

Happy Spring! It's here at last!! By request, I'd like to share my opinion on polish trends for Spring 2011. I haven't been 100% satisfied with the shades picked out in the few magazines that have managed to find their way to my new address.

There's the higher end, conservative interpretation...

Vogue Spring 2011 Beauty Guide

Whether they match the clothes, or provide an artful contrast, nails are now as much a part of a finished look as lipstick, eye shadow—or the right handbag. Spring runways witnessed the gray trend go deeper, more metallic. Silver made an ethereal appearance, and red staged a notable comeback, often in playful, not-so-serious shades of bright tomato and cherry.

• Vogue's Picks: Dark Metallic Gray, Glittery Silver, Light Silver Pearl, Tomato and Cherry Red

The "so trendy that we've skipped right past spring and jumped right back into fall"...

Allure's Top Shades For Spring 2011 *from March 2011 issue

There's safety in neutrals. But as this season's freshest nail colors show, safety's overrated. These are the shades you'll want to get your hands on now.

• Allure's Picks: Green, Creamy Peach, Orange-Red, Pearly White, Mulberry

And the "sweet enough to acknowledge spring... but still trendy enough to jump right into summer!!"

InStyle Spring Beauty 2011

How to Wear Spring's Rainbow Nail Colors - Thanks to a few key tips from Ji Baek, the owner of Rescue Beauty Lounge in N.Y.C., even the most shocking enamels can become wearable everyday accents. "Think of nail polish as an accessory, like a chunky necklace or a gorgeous handbag," Baek says. "You can make a statement without being flashy." So step away from the sheer pink and embrace the color storm, one shade at a time. 

• InStyle's Picks: Yellow, Lilac, Hot Pink, Pearl, Orange, Mint Green, Bright Blue

I know polishanistas don't chose their nail shades based on trend or season, but by mood and whimsy, so I'm dedicating this post to my family and friends. This is for moms, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, girlfriends, all my special people who are interested in good-looking nails that are current without looking crazy.

Spring is a real season and I'm going to acknowledge it as one! So I shopped my stash and here is what I think is on trend for Spring 2011...  After the moody dark colors from this cold winter, it's time for lighter shades that are soft yet saturated - nothing stark or overly bright yet because that's what you wear at the pool and beach when we're in the full swing of sweltering summer days. 

First, our classic colors - red and pink. If these are your colors of choice, then the runways and Pantone have declared Tomato/Orange-Red and Honeysuckle to be The Red and The Pink you should be wearing for Spring 2011.

I don't have that many orange-reds but here are some ideas of the warm, yet soft, reds that would look nice this spring. I included OPI Big Apple Red on the left and Zoya Paz on the right as color references to these colors compared to a true red and orange.

Reds - Zoya America, OPI Don't Socra-tease Me, BB Couture Sex on the Beach

I also don't have that many honeysuckles but I've been on the lookout for them this year. Nubar Honeysuckle and CND Smoochie are also supposed to be excellent choices for the honeysuckle nail. I included OPI Strawberry Margarita on the left and OPI I'm Indi-a Mood For Love on the right as color references to show how warm, but still pink these shades are compared to a warm and cool pink.

Honeysuckle - China Glaze High Hopes, OPI My Chihuahua Bites!

Now for let's take the trendy shades and make them work-appropriate...
If you loved gray last year, you're going to love all the options you have this year! Take the grays from last year and soften them for spring with some shimmer. Pearl and metallic finishes are in so the shimmer can be as subtle or as out-there as you want to wear it.

Shimmer Grays - Sation Gray Opal, Zoya Laney, Zoya Harley

Blue polish is still very in this year, but not necessarily the most work- appropriate. Try a gray that leans blue instead - it's more mature than sky blue while still keeping some of that blue edge. It might even be a gateway shade to a periwinkle pedi in the near future ;) As an availability FYI, if you like the light gray shimmer Sag Harbor, L'Oreal High Tide and China Glaze Sea Spray are reasonable dupes.

Bluish Grays - Essie Sag Harbor, Sally Hansen Gray by Gray, Misa Office Polish-tics

Spring is the time for pastels, but my mom cringed when I said "pastel polish," so it might not be for everyone. Instead of melon or yellow, how about we ease into it with lighter, softer shades of more conventional colors? Specifically, I mean light pink - but make it opaque! And try pink with a touch of purple if lavender and lilac are too child-like for your tastes.

Light Pinks - China Glaze Encouragement, China Glaze Something Sweet, OPI Lucky Lucky Lavender

How about the "pastel" version of an office-appropriate taupe? Take You Don't Know Jacques (on the left for reference) and lighten it up and add some pink or gray to make it more spring-like or current.

Light Taupes - OPI Over the Taupe, OPI Tickle My France-y, Orly Country Club Khaki

If a lighter taupe is too nude, try a taupe touched with purple. Or go with my favorite new color of this season - gravender. (Yep, that gray is everywhere this year!)

Touched with Purple - Barielle Putt-e On Me, Revlon Perplex, Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid

I think green is easier to pull off in the winter months when it can be dark and rich, but this is NOT the time of the year to be wearing dark green. Mint green is still in this spring but if you're on the fence about wearing pastels and you're unsure about wearing green, why would you wear a pastel green??

Even without wearing a green, I think there are so many options out there for my working friends and family to suit every color taste and preference this spring. Take the polish shades you like, give the color a 2011 spin, and go show off those lovely hands! It's Spring!!!

Butter London No More Waity, Katie

I have to admit that I'm fascinated by Prince William & Kate Middleton's upcoming wedding. I'm already in a wedding frame of mind for 2011 because all of my friends' upcoming nuptials and I think Kate is so stylish - not that I would wear all of those tiny hat things, but they look cute on her!

As soon as Nonie Creme, Butter London's Creative Director, started making the fashion press rounds talking about this new limited edition shade, I knew I would have to have No More Waity, Katie. I didn't do the pre-order but I did buy it from B-Glowing immediately after I saw a tweet that No More Waity had already sold out on Butter London's website. I think it's back in stock and available at both online stores right now.

The official description of this color is a "soft, elegant greige shade with a splash of lilac glitter." Isn't "greige" the combination of gray and beige?  I'm seeing lilac glitter, I'm seeing gray, but I'm not seeing the beige.  If anything, I'd describe this shade as "gravender" because this gray definitely leans purple.

This wasn't the easiest polish to apply. The base is sheer, but the formula is a bit thick and gloopy, so it took three coats plus touch up to be opaque and it still looks like there's visible cuticle drag and too much polish bunched up at the tip. It doesn't look too bad in these pictures, but I think a good layer of top coat helped smooth it out to lay more evenly on the nail.

 

I think I'll add a few drops of thinner next time I wear No More Waity, Katie. That should help the polish apply more smoothly *fingers crossed*.

This might be a polish that's riding the wave of collectible memorabilia being pushed on to the market to cash in on the royal wedding, but it really is a well thought out shade. All of its elements are feminine, edgy, and unique from the lilac glitter to the purplish gray base (that I'm calling the It Color of Spring 2011 - it's certainly my favorite new shade of the moment).  Even the opacity of the polish makes sense - the base had to be thin enough to suspend the glitter at different levels for a multicolored layer effect. It's all lilac glitter but it looks brighter purple the closer it gets to the surface. 

I think this shade is brilliant!!

China Glaze Ahoy!

I'm going to try and be really brief because I gotta get to the TV. Two of my favorite shows are on tonight - Community and Parks & Rec! It's the D&D episode on Community and would I really be a good MPA if I didn't LOVE Parks & Rec?

Know what else makes me smile like these funny shows? A really pretty polish! I heard an ice storm was going to hit the city this week and Ahoy! was bright enough to counter the freezing weather.

This pink is one of the big stars from the China Glaze Anchors Away Spring 2011 Collection. Even though it's from a spring collection, I think Ahoy! looks like the winter cousin to CG Strawberry Fields.

This is a bright magenta jelly infused with tons of orange-gold shimmer (see it towards the bottom of the bottle - that's what the shimmer looks like on the nail in daylight). The shimmer is almost always visible at every angle. Indoors - even in dim lighting - the shimmer keeps on sparkling but it looks more red-fuchsia.

Also, I believe that Ahoy! is related to OPI's Let Me Entertain You, but LMEY is a cooler shade that leans toward purple-fuschia with a more foil-like finish.  Definitely not dupes, but I think they can be called 1st cousins.

Off for TV time!  But I will be back tomorrow with something fun for all - be ready!!  **EDIT: I'll be back NEXT Friday - I'll explain the delay then ;) **

Party of Five Glitters vs. Gems

The universe knows when you're happily wearing a new polish that you don't want to change. That's when you find the new displays of polishes that everyone has been talking about. And those displays are full. How does the universe know?!

While I skipped around Walgreens looking for some new conditioner wearing My Kind of Cool Aid, I found the new Wet N Wild Fast Dry polishes. I picked up a few, including Party of Five Glitters, which is another potential drugstore dupe for Lippmann Happy Birthday. I left MKoCA on a few more days and finally have some comparison shots of Party of Five to share.

Party of Five Glitters is a clear-based polish filled with large silver hex glitter, medium light blue and fuschia hex glitter, and smaller red, green, and gold hex glitter. Isn't that 6 glitters? Maybe the tiny gold glitter is really a reflective silver? Back to the real question - This $2 option is better for your wallet than a $16 polish, but is it worth the savings against the $5 Milani Gems? Comparison Time!

 

Party of Five looks significantly more pink than Gems 

when the bottles are side by side.

I used one coat of Wet N Wild Black Creme as the base 

to make the glitter nice and visible.

1 Coat, 2 Coats, 3 Coats, 1 Coat of Party of Five Glitters

Party of Five has a thick clear base and it makes getting the glitter on the nail challenging. I thought the first coat of this "fast dry" polish was sufficiently set so I put on a second and third coat to get more glitter on the nail. What happens when you pile coats of thick polish on top of wet polish? Bubbles. And I didn't get enough glitter on the nail to cover these major bubbles up.

2 Coats Gems, 2 Coats Party, 1 Coat Gems, 1 Coat Party

Gems has a slightly different color combination of large and small hex glitter - no fuchsia, more green - but the difference is definitely less visible on the nail than it was in the bottle. Gems has a thinner base and it feels like there's significantly more glitter landing on the nail in every brushstroke. It seems that Gems also dried faster, smoother, and shinier than Party of Five.

I think with a little thinner and some more drying time between coats, Party of Five Glitters could be a fun glitter polish to use again. If I wanted to save some money, I would buy Party of Five instead of Happy Birthday. If I could only walk out of a drugstore with one glitter polish, though, I'd definitely pick Gems over Party of Five. I don't need an odd fuchsia hex here and there as much as I need the sheer density of the glitter bomb fiesta that Gems provides in two coats. Pow!

Cult Nails My Kind of Cool Aid

The first polish by Cult Nails is here!! Maria from R3Daily has made her dream a reality and launched her very own polish line this year. Her spring collection kicks off with My Kind Of Cool Aid a "purple/gray creme polish with a delicate shimmer." I normally babble first, but I'm so excited with this polish that I have to rush right on to the pictures!

The Lovely Bottle - Isn't that some pretty font?

Sunlight - Looks Gray

Indirect Sunlight - Looks Gray with a Touch of Lavender

Lamp - Looks Grayish Lavender.
Under fluorescents, it looks even more completely purple.

The brush is long and flexible and the polish formula is just right, so My Kind of Cool Aid flowed on my nails without pooling or drag.

Now it's time for enthusiastic babbling... I didn't even need a top coat with My Kind of Cool Aid because it dried so fast and shiny. Really fast. After putting on other polishes that claim to be top speed, 50 seconds, quick dry, express finish, and all of that, this polish actually dried faster than all of them without even claiming it would. I wonder if that was planned or just a happy surprise resulting from an awesome formula. I eventually put a top coat on because I love this shade and I want my mani to survive weekend housecleaning.

My Kind of Cool Aid isn't a duochrome, but this purple/gray color - it's a chameleon! Depending on the lighting, it ranges from a light gray to an edgy gravender to a medium dusty lavender. I kept checking my nails all night to see what color it looked like and it was slightly different every time I looked. The delicate shimmer looks mostly silver except for direct sunlight where it looks multicolor. Even the shimmer changes color.

I can't think of one thing I don't like about this polish. I don't have another color that even comes close to resembling this shade, the formula is ridiculously easy to work with, it's B3 and Camphor Free, the bottle looks pretty, and it arrived quickly in recycled mail packaging. I think the cotton ball initiative is brilliant. Maria has great customer service, so don't let international borders stop you from thinking about ordering a bottle for yourself.

Living Water and Iconic, the other shades in the spring collection, look equally unique and awesome. I can't wait for more polishes from Cult Nails!!